1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to portable devices for charging electrical storage cells (batteries). The present invention relates more specifically to a portable, wet cell battery charger, powered by an internal combustion engine, the charger utilizing a high-efficiency permanent magnet alternator/generator connected through a cut-off switch to battery clamps or clips that may be attached to the terminals of a bank of batteries.
2. Description of the Related Art
Batteries or electric storage cell devices are commonly used to provide electrical power to a variety of devices in environments where alternating current electric power sources are not available. Batteries generally take one of two forms that may be classified as either wet cell batteries or dry cell batteries. Some of the most common types of wet cell batteries used in a rechargeable manner are lead-acid batteries that position a number of lead plates within a bath of sulfuric acid. These types of batteries are frequently used to start automobiles and to provide power for electrical equipment in remote areas where AC power is not available. It is important to be able to recharge these batteries on a rapid and regular basis.
When such batteries are positioned within automobiles and the like, they are recharged by alternators positioned in conjunction with the internal combustion engines of the vehicle. Typically the internal combustion engine drives a generator or alternator by way of a V-belt connection. Electrical cables from the generator or alternator are connected to the battery through a voltage regulator which recharges the battery as needed. For environments where lead-acid batteries are utilized apart from automotive vehicles the ability to recharge the batteries can become problematic. Some type of portable battery charging device that was easy to move from place to place and could rapidly recharge a bank of batteries would be desirable within these environments.
Devices are known in the prior art which constitute electrical battery chargers that are designed and structured to recharge lead-acid batteries, such as those found in automobiles, apart from the internal combustion engine within the automobile. Typically, these battery chargers plug into an AC outlet (115 VAC) and through the appropriate electronics and electrical circuitry provide a slow-charge current at the typical 12 VDC (or more specifically 14+ VDC in order to effect a charge on the battery) to the lead-acid wet cell battery. Such devices are frequently used in automotive garages and the like where it is necessary to recharge a battery without running the internal combustion engine within the vehicle associated with the battery. These battery chargers, because they only require access to an AC electrical outlet, have become quite compact and portable in design. The unfortunate limitation on these devices, however, is of course that an AC outlet must be available.
Wet cell batteries such as the lead-acid batteries described above are commonly used in conjunction with machinery and electrically driven mechanical devices that might be situated far from readily available AC power. Examples of such situations include farms and ranches where irrigation equipment or the like might be operable by electrical power provided by one or more lead-acid batteries. With the appropriate circuitry, a large bank of lead-acid wet cell batteries can be used to power a small low-power living environment in a remote location. The uses for such lead-acid wet cell batteries in remote locations are numerous and yet all depend upon the ability to recharge the batteries through some process other than connection through an AC powered battery charger. It would be desirable therefore to provide a portable means for recharging lead-acid wet cell batteries in remote locations without the need for access to AC power. It would be desirable if such a system could be readily moved to the location of the batteries by a single individual and could rapidly charge the batteries to a condition where they might further be used to power remotely located machinery and the like. It would be desirable if such a system operated off of an internal combustion engine connected through a generator or the like in a manner similar to that associated with automotive battery charging systems. It would be beneficial if such a portable system could take advantage of recent advances in the efficiency of automotive generators and alternators in order to more rapidly charge a large bank of batteries connected in parallel and/or to charge batteries whose acid baths have been nearly or fully depleted.